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Have you ever found that you need a new leadership skill that will help equip your team? Today is part two of a conversation where I answer Jessica’s question about how to lead differently through coaching. Coaching is a facilitated monologue through which a person understands the next best step forward. Unlike consulting, coaching helps your staff discover what is holding them back and what possibilities are.  The answers don’t come from you, the coach, but from the Holy Spirit working within them. Two “tools” I use: I.G.R.O.W * I – what is the issue? * G – what is the goal of our conversation and the goal for a solution? * R – what is the reality of the situation? * O – what are the options that you (the staff person) have considered? * W – what will it take to take the next step? 7 Key Questions: (from The Coaching Habit) * What’s on your mind? * And what else? * What’s the real challenge here for you? * What do you want? * How can I help? * If yes to this, what do you have to say ‘no’ to? * What was useful in our conversation? If you’d like to talk more with me about how to coach your staff, you can contact me via email here or go click the ‘coaching’ tab on the website. Links: * Audible.com – 180K audio book, right at your fingers

Have you ever found that you need a new leadership skill that will help equip your team? Today I answer Jessica’s question about how to lead differently through coaching. What’s common as a leader: * Employees see us as the go-to person. * Once you become the end all of their questions, they will bring everything to you. * Then, we feel like we have to have all the answers. Ultimately we become the boss. Listen, you don’t want to be a boss … you want to be a leader. I believe that all leaders need to learn to also be coaches. Or maybe better said is to add the skill of coaching to your tool belt. What is coaching? The coach approach helps people realize a change is needed because of pain or pleasure, and then helps them set up, implement and evaluate a plan for change. What it isn’t: Counseling (helping with emotional instability) or Mentoring/Consulting (giving strategies) Coaching * Assumes overall health * Deals with the desire to move forward * Focuses on the present and future (asks “What’ and “How”) Basically, coaching helps the person discover their own next best step toward moving forward and finding solutions. “If they come up with it, they’ll move forward with it.” 3 Key Words: * Questions * Curiosity * Silence Next Week:  Learning two models that I use for coaching.

Sometimes, short quotes and sayings have a powerful and memorable impact on your life. Today, I talk through eleven of them that can give you encouragement and hope as you take your life to the next level. (#1, #3, and #5 really hit me). Here are the 11 Powerful Quotes: * Always remember that your present situation is not your final destination.  The best is yet to come. * Sometimes the bad things in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us. * If you don’t like where you are, move.  You are not a tree. * You cannot start the next chapter if you keep rereading the last. * If it doesn’t open, it’s not your door. * Sometimes you need to step outside, get some air, and remind yourself of who you are and where you want to be. * Sometimes you need to talk to a three-year-old so you can understand life again. * Listen and silent are spelled with the same letters.  Think about it. * Sometimes you have to stop thinking so much and just go where your heart takes you. * You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward. * Never stop believing because miracles happen every day. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD Peace! Links: Audible.com – 180K audio book, right at your fingers Daily Health Post for the video. You need a FaceBook Account to view.

Finding and defining vision can be a daunting task.  Today, I talk about how to go about seeking God’s vision for ministry based on a question from a group coaching question from Dan.  Click here to rate this podcast in iTunes. If you google the topic, the processes of finding a vision for an organization are endless. Here are my thoughts. First thing is that you should make sure you are the one to bring a vision to the church.  I know that sounds weird, but many churches are set up where the Board or the congregation brings the vision and then the Pastor simply manages and shepherds that vision.  It is an American model but used by many churches.  The Biblical model is that Jesus is the head of the church and then the lead Shepherd/Pastor seeks the vision in conjunction with others in the ministry.    Another thing, remember that it is God’s church. Mission vs. Vision: * “Mission” is the big picture.  All churches have basically the same mission that God has given them.  From Matthew 28, “Go and make disciples.” * “Vision” is how the mission plays out in a local context. In my 20 years of experience and across many different types of ministries, I’ve found there really aren’t perfect steps to finding a vision, but there are certain parts of that vision that should be included. There are at least 4 key aspects that every vision should include.  (This also comes from an article that I read from Jeremy Roberts). * Reach lost people * Pastor/shepherd people we reach * Train them for acts of ministry * Get them to do something.  In other words, get them involved. Peace! Other Links: Audible.com – 180K audio book, right at your fingers Jeremy Roberts Blog Visioneering, Andy Stanley Church Unique, Will Mancini

Technology is great, especially when we use it to organize our lives and make our days more productive.  On today’s episode, I talk about the top 3 productivity apps that I use and give examples of how I use them throughout the day.  Kelly asked what top 3 productivity apps do I use. These are what works for me. I use one or all of them multiple times per day. Here how I use them from the beginning of the day till the end. * Notes app on iPhone with voice dictation.  While I’m driving to work, I record any thoughts or to do’s that come to mind. * Wunderlist.  (link below) A massive to-do list app. It has multiple to-do lists, under which you can create subtasks and dates and reminders, organize the most important thing, share to do list. So I get to work and transfer my crazy thoughts from my notes app into a folder that is my main INBOX folder. Everything starts there. * Calendar app. I cross reference the organization of my tasks with my calendar and follow it throughout the day. Then I have 4 other folders.  This is how I prioritize what should come first for today and it helps for what I can put off until tomorrow. Here’s the question: What is the outcome if I don’t do this today? So my filter isn’t what I should get done, but what is the negative outcome if I don’t get it done. Then I organize them into four folders: * ‘A’ EVENTS (Must do – serious consequences for non-completion – meeting with boss, visiting client) * ‘B’ EVENTS (Should do – mild consequences for non-completion – check email, call someone, return phone call) * ‘C’ EVENTS (Nice to do – no consequences for non-completion – call home, read an article) * ‘D’ EVENTS (Delegate – everything possible ) * Then within each of these folders, I organize what I should do first. To see how I use these folders, download the free Productivity 101 below. NOW I HAVE A PLAN FOR THE DAY!! Peace!   * Audible.com – 180K audio book, right at your fingers * Wunderlist – a huge, free to-do app. *

As it is the beginning of 2018, Goal setting is the topic of many conversations. Most people try and fail at setting goals but the exercise is important to the desire for success. Today, I talk about two ways to set goals. Why people don’t set goals: * First, they don’t think goal setting is important. Brian Tracy writes about that. He says: “Living without clear goals is like driving in a thick fog. No matter how powerful or well-engineered your car, you drive slowly, hesitantly, making little progress on even the smoothest road. Deciding upon your goals clears the fog immediately and allows you to focus and channel your energies and your abilities. Clear goals enable you to step on the accelerator of your own life and race ahead rapidly toward achieving more of what you really want.” * The second reason people don’t set goals is the fear of failure. * The third reason people don’t set goals is they simply don’t know how. Goals are important in that they give a general direction for one’s activities. The goal should be specific, measurable and have a date on it. The activity of the goal should be within your control but not necessarily the outcome. Own the Goal. For example: Poor Goal: * Increase worship attendance 25%. We can’t control people’s behaviors. Better Goal: * Make the worship experience more inviting. We can hang specifics on that one by, for example, providing better visuals, evaluate and update our worship presentation, become a more skilled speaker, incorporate or eliminate certain elements, encourage members to be inviting. Poor Goal: * Increase the number of our small group participation by 30%. Better Goal: * Increase the number of small group opportunities by 15 small groups. We can set up the environments and whether the people join one or not is not ours to control. Here’s one process for setting Goal – if your personality is more ‘free’ this might fit. * Set a goal: the outcome. What you want to achieve. * Establish strategies: The broad approaches you are going to take in order to achieve the goal. * Define objectives for each strategy. Objectives are the measurable tasks that will be undertaken in order to realize the strategies. * Develop tactics – the tools that will be used in or

After a long break, I’m restarting my podcast. Today, I talk about the title of the podcast to define three words that will help those who are new to understand how this site can help you. Plus, I have a bonus download. “Christian Leaders Coaching” * Christian:  the framework through which I work.  I work with and coach mainly people who call themselves Christian, but I also have many who profess no faith.  I don’t try to convert people.  This title is simply my faith and system of belief. * Leaders:  Everyone is a leader and the first person you lead is yourself.  I work with people who work in the church and people who are Christians who work in the work-place.  Teachers, Pastors, Youth and Children’s workers, IT Techs, Engineers and Small Business Owners are part of that list * Coaching:  It is not counseling or consulting which offer opinions and solutions that a person may or may not connect with.  Pure Coaching helps a person discover their next best step.  Click here to read more on “coaching.” HOW IT HELPS:  In the past on this podcast, I’ve covered topics such as helping you find a job.  How god transforms every inch of your life, godly parenting, handling burnout the way Jesus did. Some of the future topics that people have asked: * Goal setting – next week. * How do I find God’s vision for my ministry? * Huge one…. What’s my purpose?  Why am I here? How do I focus my life? * Anxiety. I know this helps because you, the listeners, write in and tell me your stories… which I love!!!! If you want to ask me a question that has been bugging you, send fill out this form or send an email to me at Todd@ChristianLeadersCoaching.com: Free Download: “The Graph of Life” helps you identify strength and weakness areas of your life. Click here if you’d like to start 2018 right. Peace! Todd Links: * Audible.com – 18

Having a correct perspective on life is vital to enjoying its beauty. Doris Garbe was one who had that perspective. Learn the secret to a full life today on our podcast.

What happens when two people who are very different find themselves in a car together having a conversation. It was a beautiful moment between a Muslim man and me.

Many people describe their lives as boring. What if there were a way to break out of the boredom and live a wonderfully challenging life? I'll talk about that today.

Most people live the ‘safe’ life. They never take risks and venture out and miss the beauty of the lake for the safety of the pond. Here are three steps to taking your life to the next level.

You don’t have to look far to find that chaos is running rampant in our society and world. If you let it get to you, it will hinder your success and ruin your outlook on life. Today, I talk about one powerful key making sure you can stay calm in the midst of chaos.

Have you ever been talking with someone and intuitively, you know their mind is somewhere else? Maybe it's their eyes peering over your shoulder or something they say that doesn't fit the current conversation? It's irritating. Today, I share how to NOT be THAT person.

All of us have messages or ‘voices’, coming at us from all different directions. Which voice you chose to listen to will directly affect your ability to move forward, your self-perception and your success. Today, I talk about the different places from which you hear ‘voices’ and how to chose which ones to listen to.

Have you ever run out of time on a project? Have you ever run late to appointments or picking up the kids? Today, I share three things to do that can turn this potential disaster into an opportunity for success.

How do you handle disappointment? Today, I share 3 metaphors and a bonus question that give you a positive perspective on disappointment.

Have you ever had a frustration keep you from move ahead in life? How do you overcome that frustration? There is one secret that can help.

Research shows that there is one day of the week that is the most important if you want to accomplish your goals and feel fulfilled in life. Do you know what day that is?

We’re talking about a word the is normally considered a bad word, ‘Temptation.’ But what if you can be tempted to do good? What is the definition of temptation anyway? When these two parts of temptation meet, it can be horrible or it can be great, especially when it comes to achievement!

After going to the Best Practices for Ministry Conference, I realized I need to put my learnings into action. Here are a few key things I learned and that you can put into action as well. BTW, sorry for my voice on this episode :).